Does Height Matter In Boxing – Advantages Of Being Short In Boxing

does-height-matter-in-boxing

Boxing has one of the most intense combat matches in the world. Most people would agree that the boxers’ strength is one of the most important elements determining the match’s result. The strength may be posed through their big muscles or their height. But does height matter in boxing? And what are the advantages of being short in boxing?

Let’s find out the answer in our post below.

Does Height Matter in Boxing?

In fighting, the fighter’s height is a crucial factor determining the fighting strategy. Given the height difference, tall boxers tend to have longer fighting areas than shorter ones.

As a result, they can easily hit shorter fighters while they are out of shorter fighters’ reach. And even at closer range, if two boxers punch simultaneously, the taller one will hit first because they can reach further.

Lennox Lewis is one of the most popular boxers in the world with three world heavyweight championships. This 6-foot-5-inch professional boxer is considered a huge size, which can be intimidating for many average-height boxers.

Lennox is famous for his powerful long jabs to keep his opponents from reaching him. He also analyzes the match carefully and jumps in and out of the opponent’s ranges to avoid their punches wisely. With his strength and long ranges, he easily defeated many famous boxers such as Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.

For a tall boxer, they can hit you from a distance that you are out of reach. They can predict which direction your fists are coming, and they can more easily escape if they’re in a bad position. But their height can be an obstacle in boxing as well. Here are the challenges that tall boxers have to face:

More Vulnerable Exposure Parts

Being huge maybe your disadvantage when someone tries to hit you. You can be aimed at any exposure from your body to your head, which you cannot protect yourself completely because of the length of your body.

Most of the time, taller boxers use more open guards to create distance with their dominant arm. In the fight between Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker, Joshua used a similar technique to dodge Parker’s attacks.

Difficulty Controlling Weight

If you’re in a boxing match, you will likely have to match a certain boxing weight class. That means you have to change your weight to a certain extent.

In most cases, a taller person is heavier than a short person. Therefore, taller boxers often have to lose more body weight to fall into a certain weight class. This deliberate weight loss often leads to low energy in the body because the number of calories they are absorbed must be below.

A lack of energy can be the deadliest point in an aggressive boxing match. This can be a huge factor, determining the fight’s outcome, especially in the next rounds, the fighter will become exhausted over time.

Decrease Of Attack Force

In addition to the lack of energy, weight loss can also cause muscle loss, significantly reducing a fighter’s strike power and aggression. This could be another huge disadvantage of higher boxers. 

You may also notice that boxers with a shorter range often have more punches forces. Boxers like Joe Frazier, Myke Tyson, and Rocky Marciano are not the tallest among their colleagues, but their explosive power and ability are considered legendary.

The reason for this could be due to their shorter arm length. The longer the arm, the more force it will lose during the blow. A great example is Mike Tyson. With his hands, he exerted immense power as he threw his top hooks and uppercuts.

Advantages Of Being Short In Boxing

Now that we know how important height is in boxing, it seems short boxers don’t have so many advantages when competing with taller opponents.

Despite the disadvantage in height, short boxers still have amazing tricks in their sleeves:

Advantage In Close Range

In boxing, fighting at a close range can also be called in-fighting. Professional in-fighting boxers are called in-fighters or swarmers. Most short boxers fight from within because, in this way, they can reverse their opponents’ advantage – long-range – into their benefits.

When tall fighters can reach out, they need enough space to utilize their strength. Therefore, when there are not enough spaces, your perks become useless. On the other hand, short-range fighters can easily land with a few hooks or uppercuts when they’re in close ranges.

For example, one of the best close-range fighting strategies is to lock your opponent against the ring’s ropes and perform explosive attacks. You can also knock your opponent easily by aiming at the body first and then to the head.

However, short boxers need to dodge their opponent’s long reaches and punches before getting to that range. That’s when you need your body to move quickly with a lot of head movement and footwork so you can slip through the deadly grabs.

Stronger Punching Force

When you can deliver knockouts, even if the other fighter has better technique, better health, or more experience, you can still beat them with one punch. 

Short boxers like Joe Frazier usually don’t have long ranges, but their attack power is truly intimidating. It is clear that in most cases, the shorter boxers have stronger forces than the taller fighters. They also have bigger power and are faster than normal boxers.

To achieve this power, it is interpreted based on:

Leg Muscles

When fighting a bigger opponent, the lower fighter will have to punch up. To increase the power of their punches, they used more leg muscles when punching.

Body Rotation Speed

With a simple formula, the body mass multiplied by the acceleration equals the power of the punch. Therefore, the faster you rotate your body with your fists, the stronger they will be. In most cases, shorter people move faster than tall people. That is probably one of the reasons why their punches are stronger.

Indeed, those who hit longer distances often have stronger straight shots. At a long distance, a fist travels and generates momentum. But the shorter boxers got a lot of skills in their sleeves, such as hooks, uppercuts, and overhands.

Their punches are also much faster and harder for their opponents to defend. If the fighter could not see the incoming jab, they would not be able to adjust in time to reduce the power of that attack. Therefore, it is understandable why the shorter boxers have more power.

Higher Speed

When your speed is higher than your opponent, you have a huge advantage in a game in general. With speed, you can escape easily when faced with a bad situation but can also attack and back down to a safe distance very quickly.

Commonly, the shorter boxers have the advantage of speed. That’s because they usually have less body weight than taller ones. Most of the time, their punching speed is also more flexible. Especially if you are a combination puncher, this advantage is a great perk for a boxing match.

Good Balance Of The Body

Balance is one of the key factors in boxing matches because many elimination cases are not due to a strong punch but a loss of balance after a push. But the referee can consider this as a knockdown, and the punched boxer can lose points. Sometimes this can be a determining factor in the outcome of the match.

The short boxers usually have a lower center of gravity than the tall boxers. Therefore, their ability to balance their bodies is usually better. And in boxing, your balance affects when making aggressive punches, especially when throwing heavy punches, such as overhands or hand hooks. It’s also more challenging for your opponent to push you down.

Good Defense

In any match, you must cover your body sections as much as possible to protect yourself from deadly attacks. Because of that, the short boxers often have a better defense.

On the contrary, for tall boxers, it is so much harder to defend themselves completely. For example, when you do straight punches or jabs, your body is available for surprise uppercuts or hooks. Then your opponent only needs to get one of these punches, closes the range, and starts raining blows.

When you are shorter, it is much easier to defend yourself. Your body is a smaller target to aim at while your large boxing gloves protect your head.

Easy Weight Control

When boxers want to compete in a real boxing match, they will have to meet a certain weight. This weight depends on the category you want to play in. There are eight weight classes for boxing ranging from light minimumweight to heavyweight. If you do not reach the correct weight, you will not be allowed to fight.

This leads to a problem: when you are taller, you are likely to lose more weight because you need to fit in the weight class. As a result, you will lose more muscle than a shorter guy in the same category. Therefore, it will be harder for you to produce explosive punches in the fight.

Another problem with losing weight is that you have less energy due to the lesser number of calories intake to achieve the required weight.

For shorter boxers, they can save more muscle and more energy during weight loss. Thus, their punches will be stronger and consistent during the tournament.

Better Clinch Control

Short boxers can control weight much better with short arms than people with longer arms in a clinch move. Clinch is an effective antagonistic technique that can make an opponent lethargic or extremely painful when hit. 

You can also use it to block opponents, neutralize the situation before hitting kicks, punching, and attacking with the elbow. This fighting technique is also used quite a lot in MMA, Boxing, and Muay Thai tournaments.

If you have shorter arms, you will easily control the opponent in the boxing match. That’s because the physics are in your favor. You can use that to push the other fighter off the edge of the ring or push him back so you can escape the technique.

What Are The Boxing Styles For Short Boxers?

Whether you are a tall boxer or a short boxer, your height will always give you advantages and drawbacks in a boxing match. The important thing to remember is to understand your situation and take action based on it.

Here are some effective boxing styles for short boxers:

Peek-A-Boo Technique

For short boxers, when encountering taller boxers, the biggest problem for them is getting to the close range as their opponent will utilize their long ranges to attack. That’s why short boxers need to make a lot of movement and defensive moves to avoid the attacks while entering their zone.

This requires a lot of footwork and guard techniques. One of the most common guarding techniques is peek-a-boo, which allows you to protect your body and head while making strong punches.

You can start with putting the gloves right under your eyesight while lowering your chin to your neck. Keep your elbow close to your ribs with your left foot slightly forward. Bend and lean forward to your opponent. When you get to a good distance, throw your shot fast and go back to the guarding position.

When you reach the close range, it doesn’t mean you’re immune to your opponent’s attacks. Therefore, here are some common techniques for short boxers to damage the others effectively:

Jab, Cross, Lead Hook

1. Aim at the body and perform a jab, and cross with enough force

2. Give an explosive lead hook to the body.

Lead Hook, Rear Hook, And Lead Uppercut

1. Use a lead hook on the opponent’s body.

2. Continue with a lead hook on the head to lower his protection on his head.

3. Then two powerful lead uppercuts to his head.

Push Against The Ropes, Hooks, And Ear Hooks

1. Push your opponent to the ropes.

2. Hold a strong position so your opponent cannot run away.

3. Rain hooks to the body.

4. Knock your opponent out with multiple rear hooks to the head.

How To Deal With A Short Boxer?

Long-range is every short boxer’s nightmare. Tall boxers can reach them with their long-range punches. Therefore, they have to maintain the distance to keep the opponent away. While being at the long-range, you can rain your deadly jabs on short boxers.

This is amazingly effective to throw the jabs constantly, so the short boxers always have to guard themselves. You can also use a backstep jab to control your opponent’s range if they have the chance to slip through your jabs. However, you would want to make your jabs unpredictable as your opponents may understand your patterns and slip past your jabs easily.

Use your jabs flexibly with both your left and right hands. Give them surprise elements, so they become confused, increasing your chances to knock them out.

While making attacks, you have to protect your body as well. Eventually, the short boxers will aggressively go inside the close range by killing your legs. In this situation, you can lower your elbow down and lean back to maintain the distance.

Conclusion

Height has a huge impact on the boxing matches as it can be both an advantage and obstacle for tall and short boxers. However, many people believe short boxers tend to have more drawbacks than taller boxers, but this is not true.

After reading this post, we hope you have the answer to your question: “Does height matter in boxing?” and understand the advantages of being short in boxing.

Height is just one of many elements influencing the boxing match. Thus, instead of focusing on height too much, utilizing your strength to eliminate the drawbacks can bring you amazing results.

Categories Training Guide

Leave a Comment